Africa a region of opportunity for pharmaceutical marketers

Africa’s rapidly growing pharmaceutical market will be worth US$40-US$65-billion by 2020, predicts a new study

Is Africa the world’s last region of great opportunity for the marketers of pharmaceutical products? Global management consultancy McKinsey & Company thinks so and notes that the continent “represents perhaps the last geographic frontier where genuinely high growth is still achievable”.

A study published by the consultancy earlier this month and entitled ‘Africa: A Continent of Opportunity for Pharma and Patients’ says the value of the local pharmaceutical industry jumped to US$20,8-billion in 2013 from just US$4,7-billion a decade earlier. “That growth is continuing at a rapid pace; we predict the market will be worth US$40-US$65-billion by 2020. That’s good news for multinationals and pharmaceutical companies seeking new sources of growth as developed markets stagnate,” the study’s authors say.